Customs and CTT total meltdown

Editor, How about a piece highlighting total customs and CTT meltdown or possibly nefarious practices post the implementation of taxes on goods arriving from outside the EU.

By TPN/Lusa, in Letters · 13 Aug 2021, 01:00 · 8 Comments

Order goods from the UK at your own peril, there are no rules

I personally have had a number of packages delayed, some apparently so the new IVA rules could be applied.

I. E. Package arrived from UK into Lisbon customs clearance on 23rd of June, before the end of the moratorium, however was not processed until after 1 July.

Unable to pay the duty as the CTT website does not allow payment, eventually had to pay the postman when he delivered on 27th July, over a month later.

I received 1 letter from CTT after 2nd July advising i had to pay duties but nothing more and several calls resulted in nothing.

Currently I have another package which has been in customs clearance for 2 weeks from Ukraine.

In comparison I had a package shipped by DHL from Turkey, took 1 day to clear customs and the import tax was minimal.

So why does CTT take a month? I am not the only one with this problem and I think CTT owners should face the music and do something to fix a broken system, this is ridiculous!

Matthew Dorman,
By email

Disclaimer:
The views expressed on this page are those of the author and not of The Portugal News.

More in Letters

Letter to the Editor

In Letters - 15 Dec 2023, 01:00

Reply and rebuttal to “are electric cars green?” 2/9/2023

In Letters - 26 Sep 2023, 09:48

Letters to the Editor

In Letters, Lifestyle - 20 Aug 2023, 17:01

Comments

It is even worse here in the Azores. The problem is definitely in the MARL Lisbon depot, the managerial staff there should all be replaced. CTT (mainland) have always been notoriously bad with forwarding on mail to the Azores, even from within Europe. Maybe the EU committee in Brussels should wear big boots and stipulate postal delivery Service Level Agreements. Currently the service provided by CTT of Portugal is awful, especially for a country that is a member of the EU.

By Mike from Açores on 16 Aug 2021, 02:53

I am happy to see this opinion piece, and subscribe wholeheartedly to addressing THE WORST
mail service I have encountered anywhere. It is a sham, and should be replaced. I received notification of arrival, from customs, of an order (in a mailer envelope) from UK, on July 22. I am still waiting. We have had ongoing issues with this deplorable company. We've received false notifications of delivery attempts and had to make the trek to pick up parcels at Ctt Loja. They will not make a second attempt, even when it was clearly the driver's blunder. Many times I get no notification of delivery date - just gotta be lucky, or go to the store again, wait in line again, etc. We are paying for delivery and it's a crap shoot whether we get the goods delivered or not.

By Julie Kostes from Algarve on 16 Aug 2021, 17:14

Absolut worst "service" > absolute zero help or information from them.

I don't understand why CTT does not provide at least some information.... eg. automatic e-mail how long it might take, etc. special circumstances..it can take one (two weeks) longer or so...

The "Managment" at CTT is complete...****

CTT Employees are incompetent, and are unable to give you other information at what you can find online.

You can call them
-> after 15-30 min. someone picks up the phone > but they can not help you or find out / research anything about your parcel. Although they talk nice, the information they give is eighter nothing / not worth it or simply wrong or a lie.

You can write a e-mail > But this gets never answered.

By Chris from Lisbon on 23 Aug 2021, 16:49

I have two packages waiting in customs for over a month, no custom clearance paper, no delivery, no nothing - when I finally get something it's to tell me the delay to claim them is expired? That is thievery, purely and simply.

By Roxanne from Lisbon on 26 Aug 2021, 00:41

Yes, I can relate to all of that and more, my question has always been: is there any way to complain about such a horrible service? We are definitely switching to DHL, but because senders are often not aware of this, we still have to use their services. Anyone knows?

By Constanza Garcia from Algarve on 26 Aug 2021, 17:05

I’m an Australian citizen who occasionally sends gifts to Portugal. I’ve never experienced such a bad system in mail service. I sent a small package back in mid July and arrived in Portuguese customs on 9 Aug and it’s still there.
I don’t understand why they just don’t deliver to the specified address! Now I’m considering further action and I don’t know where to start.

By Claudia from Other on 13 Sep 2021, 03:53

The CTT customs clearance process is so completely, utterly, frustratingly flawed that my pusle changes as soon as I attempt to utilize their online system! I have had a package in customs since late July and it is virtually impossible to contact them or to get any type of response whatsoever. I serioulsy cannot state how TERRIBLE THIS SYSTEM IS. The new customs imposition of duty on EVERY SINGLE PACKAGE COMING TO PORTUGAL IS A CASH GRAB! I can understand the imposition of duty on products that are available for purchase within the EU but my package is a skin care product that is not available in the EU. I attempted to fill in the registration form online and made one mistake, by the time I figured out what I had done, my ten day time restriction had expired. I spent a total of 7 and a 1/2 HOURS on hold until I finally got someone who said he would process an extension for me and I would probably receive an email within 3-5 working days notifying me of the approval of extension and could then continue the process. That was in July and NOTHING! THIS IS BEYOND THE BEYOND, so frustrating and incompetant that I can hardly believe it. They need to fix this system and if I knew how to contact the EU to complain I would. Portugal should be sanctioned for this blatant cash grab and be made to correct their broken system!

By Catharine Woods from Algarve on 13 Sep 2021, 10:55

CTT is the absolute worst to deal with. Completely terrible.

By Choc from Algarve on 04 Aug 2022, 23:13